Cowansville Prison In Lockdown

A corrections employee taken hostage by an inmate at a federal prison in Quebec's Eastern Townships has been freed after a nine-hour ordeal.

The inmate barricaded himself in a room in the Cowansville penitentiary Tuesday morning, along with a worker who was in the area with him.

Authorities ordered a prison lockdown and negotiated with the inmate throughout the day.

The employee was freed Tuesday evening with no obvious injuries, but will undergo tests, said CBC reporter Thomas Daigle.

The staff member's identity is not being released in order to protect family members, officials said.

The worker was taken hostage around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday morning, prompting a lockdown at the medium-security facility. Correctional Service Canada (CSC) said nobody was hurt at the prison, which has 410 male inmates.

A spokesperson for the agency would not confirm reports that the hostage was female.

There was also no word on what the inmate demanded, or what conditions led to the standoff being resolved.

Provincial police and CSC officers blocked access to the grounds during the hostage-taking.